This set of observations is produced by my scrolling Reddit and otherwise listening to people talk about "how to write." A) there is no requirement that any of your characters has any sort of "arc" let alone a redemption. B) there is also no requirement that your fiction has a plot.

Trans flag colors in history... Poking through old fashion plates I ran across this December 1872 one from the English magazine "Le Monde Élégant" with some ladies in ball gowns including one in a perfect set of trans flag colors. 💙 💕 🤍💕 💙 Joy to all trans sisters out there! 🗃️🪡 #FashionHistory

An early medieval claw beaker from Nettersheim. Claw beakers, so named for the applied "claws" attached to their bodies, were prevalent during the 6th and 7th centuries. Fun fact: in German, these vessels are called Rüsselbecher - trunk beaker On display at Neues Museum Berlin 📷me 🏺 #archaeology

Okay let’s talk about Richard Norman Shaw, who gave us this delightful mess and spearheaded an entire revolution in English domestic architecture

Having one of those "this is a total throwaway detail but I NEED it to be right" moments.

My latest newsletter is all about Regency topics! Shawl gowns, romance plots, and common archetypes: buttondown.com/cassidyperco...

Heat pump geeks and do-it-yourself enthusiasts will love this. A mini-split heat pump that both heats and cools, with a solo DIY install that can be undone and taken with you when you move - including the refrigerant lines (with no leaks). And under $2.5k all in (right @profitgreenly.bsky.social?)!

❄️ Walking In The Air ❄️ Not had time for a new holiday piece but I still really like this wintry 1800s butchfemme couple that I never shared here.

A true ADHD planner would just be two months of calendar planner and then slowly dissolving into random games and puzzles and blank pages for drawing.

I want to either write a buttondown post about Jane Austen, a tumblr post with my KJ Charles recs, or a short story I've started with an Edwardian female doctor and a very angry medium. And yet I am instead not doing any of it.

All the toxic parts of romantasy fandom — the bad behavior at cons, the stalking, the threats — are also happening in many other fandoms as well. They are not unique. Comics, movies, video games — this shit is everywhere. Romantasy isn’t uniquely bad even in the ways it’s actually bad.

It is more important to create than submit work to submit work than worry about being published to publish at all than be too precious about where or when to have work read than get awards to be nominated at all than win— And it is more important to make what you love than never risk failing.

Part of a broader discussion, but I really liked this from iguana_on_a_stick in response to the common claim that "you have to do Great Man history because of the sources": www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori... 🗃️

Sale news: The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles is on sale for $1.99. If you fancy some queer romance involving smugglers and noblemen this holiday season, I highly recommend it. amzn.to/4jb5IMN

And now for some great news. New Murderbot book coming. Thank you Martha Wells (@marthawells.com)!!! www.amazon.com/dp/B0FMSC5S4...

By tracing citations and consulting something *in the archive* I learned that a magnificent 16th-century manuscript atlas (handwritten; hand-drawn and illustrated) had a double the number of pages most people thought it did. #ThisStuffAintOnline. 🗃 #earlymodern buttondown.com/surekhadavie...

"Bubbe Hates You" was published in the Punch A Nazi anthology, a benefit for the Trevor Project to support LGBTQ+ youth. We raised over $800 before the benefit ended, but you can still read the story and see the collection of fiction and comics on my website.

Seen a lot of people I like argue with idiots here this morning, so this is a Christmas message imploring you not to do that. The best outcome is that you win an argument with an idiot. That is a waste of time. The other outcomes are worse. Just block them, sing another carol, have a wee sherry 🎅🏻🎄🎁

"Le Fanu inextricably entwined invaders from within and without. Were the ghosts real? Were they hallucinations? None of this mattered. What was important was how the ghost was perceived, and how this perception destroyed the minds of witnesses." markfullerdillon.blogspot.com/2025/12/jim-...

and all of the above categorization? it’s about discursive power and how some christian authors accrued more and more of it, allowing them the ability to sustain their position at the epicenter of the christianized roman empire. i bring those receipts here:

A number of weeks ago, I mentioned that I keep a "craft journal" — a journal that's about the books I've read with analysis through the lens "how can this inform my writing?" Many iterations later, have a free PDF of what I'm calling "Reading Selfishly:" dl.bookfunnel.com/6dvlo8cnxx

Fascinating article in @uk.theconversation.com from the @ihr.bsky.social's @justincolson.bsky.social and @uni-bamberg.de's Werner Scheltjens discussing their work with colleagues on the "Unlocking Upcycled Medieval Data" project. 📰You can read the article here: bit.ly/3L5CthA

I know Word gets more cursed by the day, but: friendly reminder that I have a self-paced course for editors about communicating more effectively with Track Changes. 20% off ($120 --> $96) through the end of the year!

“On January 1, 2026, thousands of copyrighted works from 1930 enter the US public domain, along with sound recordings from 1925.” Includes Betty Boop, Blondie & Dagwood, and works by William Faulkner, Agatha Christie, and the Marx Brothers. [web.law.duke.edu]

Plaques matter. A few yrs ago for @hyperallergic.com, I wrote on the import of museum labels. hyperallergic.com/can-art-muse... The reports on the new plaques written by Trump for the presidential portraits are worrying—but the political silence is even scarier 🎁 🔗 www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/u...

One of the most exciting developments in dress history in recent years is the ability to access high quality images. This mid 1860s moiré silk is captured across time, recording different mannequins & transition from black & white to glorious technicolour @metmuseum.org #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

Just a reminder that Romancing the Gothic's conference this year is celebrating the 200th anniversary of Ann Radcliffe's publications! The conference focuses on women and people of marginalised genders in the Gothic and horror! Come join us! romancingthegothic.com/2025/10/15/r...

Hello Dolly is over, so tonight I cut out the pieces for Deer and Doe's Arielle blouse and started putting them together. Since there aren't any fastenings, I'm hoping I can knock it out quickly! But I can see me getting bogged down with the collar and neck facing ...

LADIES IN HATING (Belvoir's Library #3) is a charming sapphic Regency romance by ALEXANDRA VASTI via @stmartinspress.bsky.social Griffin paperback imprint. expendablemudge.blogspot.com/2025/12/ladi...

…Aaaaand it’s DONE! Should I write up the pattern? #quilt #quilting #quiltsky #fiberArt #cats #artadventcalendar

This is such a sleek gown, Emile Pingat taking inspiration from elaborate 18th century menswear and creating an #1880s reception gown, complete with embroidered waistcoat effect and cut away jacket in rich reds and creams @shelburnemuseum.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

It's delicious! It takes like liquid zabaglione with a hit of warm spice. It does not taste like Advocaat! 🤣

Fascinating world of ancient #glass: a stunning Egyptian glass vessel in the shape of a #fish, it was probably used to hold ointments. Found in El-Amarna, #Egypt, 14th century BC. 📷 British Museum

Took a closer look at an indie pattern I bought today and noticed that the sizing is incomprehensible - I assumed that the sizes being in the 30s and 40s lined up with chest measurement in inches, but it's actually significantly off. Did they vanity size themselves?

We've been struggling with keeping Dolly's hats on (in Hello, Dolly), and this morning I ran out to the flea market, where I KNEW I could find a bunch of plain antique hatpins, and do you know what? Success!

Knitting the Zuni Cardigan from Interweave Knits winter 2015 (with handspun), and I love this pattern, but the bobbles! They slow everything down!

I wrote about the narrative importance of the sex scenes in Heated Rivalry, how this reflects the magic of romance novel storytelling, and how the plot is fuelled by a genuinely bleak view of homophobia in hockey culture. (Spoilers for ep 4!)

Asparagus server (Staffordshire, possibly Neale & Co., c1790). I now have three of these thingies, so I guess that makes it a collection #c18th #c18 #18thc

If, like me, you're dismayed to learn that it's less than 2 weeks until Christmas and haven't bought a single present yet, may I suggest my YA trilogy about a traumatised teenage assassin trying to live a normal life for the older teens and other YA readers in your life?: finnlongman.com/books/

Today only, I'm part of a cozy fantasy book sale along with @caseyblair.bsky.social , @kehealey.bsky.social , and so many other great authors. Grab my cozy-spooky romantasy Good Neighbors for just 99c/99p! And check out all of the other amazing options, too: cozyupwithfantasy.com #romancelandia

Sad to hear of the death of the iconic Stanley Baxter - I saw him many times in panto when I was growing up, and he was unsurpassed as a dame (and I am sure I am not the only one who was not that surprised when he came out of the closet age at the grand old age of 94...)

Also, congratulations everyone who made something this year. A comic, a song, a film, a novel, a painting, a poem, a short story, a sculpture, crochet, embroidery, whatever it is. In this era of slop and theft, if you *make* something you are a shining jewel and I am so grateful for you.

In addition to the 'Dancing with Jane Austen' Display @bodleian.ox.ac.uk are hosting a talk - Jane Austen in 41 Objects - on the occasion of her 250th Birthday. Book to attend in person at the Weston Library or to be able to join online go.glam.ox.ac.uk/JA250 📅16th December ⏰12.30-13.30

A brief return of the Murderbot Humble Bundle! The charity is still World Central Kitchen.

There's something about the overlap in criticism of romance and cozy fiction (which obvs themselves have an overlap). Called too escapist, examined with hostility, insulting to the enjoyers, constant bad faith interpretation ...

What do sheep, pigs, and cattle tell us about early America? 🐑🐖🐄 In this episode, Undra Jeter explores how colonial animal breeds shaped agriculture, economy, and daily life. 🎧 benfranklinsworld.com/369 #AgriculturalHistory #VastEarlyAmerica #History

#Booksky Like book sales? Our books are on sale at Smashwords right now! Stock up on gay gaslamp murder mysteries, dapper lesbian capybara pirates, sapphic urban fantasy and more! www.smashwords.com/profile/view...

🏺 You want ancient shields? Not only can you gawp close-up at huge Bronze & Iron Age examples, but also see gorgeous mini votive shields from hoards - showing real variety in form - and the simply astonishing Enderby BARK SHIELD, which revealed true diversity in Iron Age materials & artisan skill.

So pleased to see this new volume, Shopping in Eighteenth-Century Europe published in our Routledge series. Congratulations to My Hellsing and Johanna Ilmakunnas for putting together such an interesting collection of essays! #skystorians #c18th 🗃️

Snowing hard, but we have a catered holiday luncheon so I can't be too annoyed about it! This will clean up my filthy car for a few hours, at least.